Dead Rising 2: Ace in the Hole
by Actionsparda
Summary: Ace and Candy (Candice) are survivors from the Willamette and Vegas outbreaks respectfully who met each other through C.U.R.E. Each of them seem to have mysterious past and abilities they cannot even comprehend, hidden away... until now!


Ace in the Hole

Ace was backstage, trying to get pumped up and not get psyched out over what he was about to do. He had encountered zombies before...in Willamette, but this was a completely different story. He was barely a teenager back them with his mom at that mall, and they had real heroes like Frank West to hide behind. This was totally different.

The event was a special edition of Bounty Hunter, and basically Ace starts out with just a sniper riffle and would have to pick up firearms around the arena and try to kill more points than the current record did in order to win big. There were several different traps around the ring too that he could activate by shooting at targets off in the distance against the bulletproof glass that separated him and the zombies from the crowd.

He secretly had been participating in TIR walk-on games in non-combative events and was performing so well in Bounty Hunter by mowing down zombies before they even had a chance to get out of the gate.

What really made him stand out in the crow though was his ability in things like Stand-Up Zomedy and even Ramsterball to go completely unhindered and avoid the zombies.

Of course, this was all part of his secret, and it was the only way he would ever agree to do any of this.

So, when the host Tyrone King got wind of this ability, rather than report Ace to his management in some form of cheating, he encouraged him to appear for a special edition of the show and made the arrangements for his family and loved ones to come to Fortune City on vacation so he could sneak out and perform.

He needed this money, for his girlfriend.

Candice Bianca Apricot

Candice, more commonly known as Candie for short or "Candy" as she just grew up spelling it all cute in pink ink while growing up, had met Ace at a national C.U.R.E. Convention ironically enough. She was a strong but loving young woman and just seemed to radiate with compassion in her voice and attitude when Ace first laid eyes on her. While they weren't exactly strong for the cause of at the time, both of them felt like outsiders ever since there run-in with zombies.

Candy's tale of survival was much more epic than Ace's (save for one ever huge exception that gave Ace the confidence he needed to enter the competition.) Candy was in the Las Vega outbreak when it happened to her. She was upstairs in her garage on a decent sized property with her dad, and her mom was down across the yard in their house making dinner when...

A neighbor came into the open garage door by the road. He didn't look too well, so Candy, innocent and always looking out for people, went to care for the person like whenever she saw someone in need.

The man lunged for her! She fought him off as hard as she could, but finally it was her father who tackled it back and yelled for his kin to run... Before the mob of undead entered and dove ontop of him. Everything happened so fast in from of Bianca, watching her father be devoured before her very eyes, that she totally forgot about her arm. It looked like just a scratch at first, but it was in fact a bite! Then she began to realize what just happened to her: she was infected!

She had heard the stories, all the talk in Willamette or that baseball game outbreak where people slowly lost everything trying to pay for Zombrex in order to stay alive, only to go bankrupt as die painfully or turn to crime or dangerous things like the gameshow Terror Is Reality for money, putting their life on the line for just a few more days.

"No...no. no no No No!" She chanted, looking for some way, anyway out of this mess!

And she found it...

Ace could never forget that moment when Candy first opened up to her about what happened...

She saw her father's table saw, and in a burst of adrenaline turned it on and did the unthinkable...

She screamed as the metal tore instantly yet painfully into her flesh, and cried the hardest she ever thought she could as she held her arm down to allow the blades to make as clean of a cut as possible through the bone.

She survived...retuning to her house to find her dog crying next to a bloddy corpse that was once her mom, as was later saved on the outskirts of town by a man named Chuck Greene, only to discover later that a small anount of the zombie venom had indeed poisoned her. She still needed Zombrex, in order to live and keep the promises she had made to her dead family, to her sweet dog, to her fallen neighbors, to her lost friends, and to herself.

She was indeed given great support by companies like Phenotrans and other organizations, in particular not just a place to live of her and her pet, but for her arm as well. They had used advanced technology to give her a robotic prosthetic arm. After her funds had began to run out, he began tinkering with it herself to keep it going, and using her parents knowledge over such handiwork had made several significant improvements to it.

She could use the thing practically like a weapon if she wanted to, as well as attach other things to it also in modifying it... but despite this, she had refused to go onto Terror Is Reality for the longest time, denying anything to do with those monsters.

Instead, she had gotten a deal with Tape It Or Die and had begun to help them test crazy improvised weapons using her arm and craftsmanship. This got her kicked out of C.U.R.E. later, but helped to keep her alive as well. Finally, after making several guest appearances, she had entered the ring herself on Terror is Reality, doing everything from cage matches with her arm to using her knowledge of motors in Slicicles in a bright pink TIR outfit.

The female costumes and rounds were separate from the men's division. The colors were muh more feminine consisting of light blue, lime green, orange and as said before pink.

She had performed really well and was able to keep getting by.

Ace's parents in ways didn't like the idea of Ace seeing her, but realizing what all she had went through like did, soon both as and her do had become part of the family, living in the same home as them.

However, despite her lies to her new guardians and boyfriend, her money was still almost out even with her past appearances on TIR.

Her new parents had denied either her or Ace to partake in the events, saying they will find another way of they had to.

Poor Candy did not want to burden her new family, and so had plans of suicide, killing herself as not to endanger or hinder them anymore.

Without her knowing, Ace had gotten wind of this. So, when his dad's job at Phenotrans got them a weekend getaway for work a the Fortune City hotel for all of them (dog included), as the latest venue for Terror is Reality, Ace signed up, ready to give his life for the woman he now loved.

So, that night he said he was going to a video game opening at the Royal Flush Plaza mall as a character he was cosplaying that none of them would recognize, but instead he was actually in his special stage outfit for costume night at TIR that he had made himself for this event, hoping that winning he costume contest and bloody costume contest that he could get that much closer to a steady income for Bianca and his family.

Plus, the costume did well to hide his condition...

It certainly was wild: a red bandana and wide brimmed witch hat with matching thick loose coat, protective TIR gloves, professional TIR boots with spikes reworked on the sides, and denim jeans worked into more like cargo shorts.

He was ready!

**Dead Rising 2: Ace in the Hole**

"Hey. Hey! You're on in two minutes Mr. Wright." A man had come in to his section near the lift I the main stage.

"Just Ace, thanks." he replied.

He signed the release form, putting down Candy as his next of kin. Something just made sense to him for doing it.

...

"Ladies and gentleman of Fortune City Nevada, are you ready for some entertainment?" The announcer called to the crowd. An uproarious cheer signaled the answer.

"Well than, good! Cuz it's time for America's most dangerous gameshow: Terror Is Reality!"

(Applause)

"And here's your host, Tyrone King!"

TK the famous host of TIR, rose up from the ground onto the main stage himself, his female costars pacing sexily behind him in silver and hold dresses

If anyone didn't know about his curse, they were most certainly about to.

Ace an his mom were very lucky; they had made no direct contact with any of the zombies in the Willamette Outbreak. However, much like Frank West mysteriously did, Ace had become infected.

Now, many people quickly succumb to the infection, having only mere minutes if not seconds to inject themselves with Zombrex, the only drug inhibitor on the marker to delay the zombification process for 24 hours. Others can last from an hour up to several hours.

Slowly over two years after Willamette, Ace's health and physical appearance began to change. He looked paler, was often very cold and dry to the touch and did not easily feel heat, cold, or for that matter normal pain inflicted upon him. Only strange bodily aches and fatigue seemed to really plague him.

Doctors secretly to Ace had never seen anything like it. Ace wasn't lazy, he was medically handicapped... And gifted all at the same time. Secretly, Ace's father was able to provide his child with special medication that helped prevent the decaying process and he got a little better... Or at least didn't get any more serious and not too much worse.

In exchange, his blood and data were recorded often for research.

Now he was back in the spotlight for his abilities, and realized there would be no turning back from this. His parents would be pissed, but Ace didn't care as long as it helped his girlfriend, the one woman and person he grew to love most of all.

"Ladies and Gentleman, TK is proud to present to you...THE DEAD MAN!"

**Chapter 0:**

Ace was backstage after the show and had now put his showman outfit away to pick back up again and clean up later. He was now just wearing blue jeans, white tennis shows a red Fortune City T-shirt with his red bandana on still as always, covering his scars from Wilamette. His brown hair and shades propped up on his forehead like a tourist went nicely with it all.

Ace just stayed there in the locker room for the longest time, staring a the money in his hands and wondering whether it was all... Whether any of it was worth it.

Grant it, they were all zombies, but they all use to be people too. Someone's child, maybe someone's spouse or parent... Having killed them firsthand himself now, Ace was finally starting to understand what C.U.R.E. meant and why it did all of the things...

C.U.R.E. was on the TV in the room. He had just noticed it on after all this time. It was Stacey... The leader of the Nevada branch. Ace was all too familiar with her, the bitch that got Candy and himself kicked out! All over mixed opinions! Viewpoints weren't suppose to be what C.U.R.E. was about, was it? It was for zombie survivors!

Ace's girlfriend was on next. Yeah, that's right! Apparently she had snuck out too for a final chance to win big on TIR! She had kicked butt in the past at Slicicles despite her handicap, and it looked like tonight was no exception.

Ace prepared to head out afterwards to greet his girl by surprise, hopefully to convince her to keep as quiet about all this as he was planing.

On the way up however, he saw a contestant in blue walk up to him.

"Ace?" The young man asked.

It was Anim! Anim White was with Ace and his mother in Willamette at the time of the outbreak. They had grown since to become close friends despite their age gap.

"Anim!" Ace replied enthusiastically. He almost went to embrace him but realized that he must have just gotten done with his run in the men's Slicicle challenge, and it would not be very convincing or becoming to Ace's parents if he got zombie blood over his clothes.

"How have you been!? I haven't heard from you in so long." Ace continued.

"It's been rough," Anim replied, rather depressed at the subject of context. "I've tried everything, all kids of jobs after the outbreak, but between bills an everything else... I always end up selling my soul back on here."

"I'm sorry." Ace apologized. He could definitely relate to feeling scarred, both inside and out after such a traumatic event that each of them had experienced together. You really felt like an outsider... like a part of you had died.

Ace was lucky too; his mom survived. Anim had lost all of his family in the outbreak. Despite therapy and government aid, he could never truly recover from his PRSD. The big difference though was unlike most soldiers retuning from war, the only real solution for him was to embrace it and stay within this twisted world of mutilated bodies.

Of course, Anim had at least escaped with his health; Ace was never physically the same again, but still...

...speaking of which...

"You still competing for your girlfriend like you planned?" Anim asked to break the awkward silence.

"Uh...yeah!" Ace stuttered but replied truthfully. He had planned to run away with Candy to compete and live off the funds of TIR, but the assisted living his parents had provided was simply making it not an option. Anyway, he had discussed this privately with Anim ever since he started meeting with and eventually began dating Candy.

It costs you everything when you become infected, from physically and emotionally to financially; even if you could get the money and keep it up staying alive, it didn't leave much for things as grand as an education or home to even the simple things like clothes and such.

So, when Candy started competing on her own free will and found that even that wasn't enough to help get life to return to normal, Ace talked with Anim about his...abilities, and Anim was able to get him a pass to use for applying to the show whenever he got around to it.

It certainly had paid off becoming friends with Anim, in more ways than one. He was a good friend regardless of the many perks and all the help and support he had provided Ace and his family after the zombie event. Anim was also benefiting from having someone and even a group of people in the Wright family that he could still call his own.

"Well, I better let you two go shoot up." Anim concluded, knowing full well that many infected winners would simply have to use their prose money ASAP to buy their drug and stay alive.

"Yeah, well it was great seeing you old friend." Ace smiled.

"Stay safe out there." Anim waived, to which Ace replied "You too."

Ace turned to another man in the locker room upon closing his locker. The man must've finished competing and just apparently showered off, as he was in nothing but a towel.

"Excuse me?" Ace asked politely. "Do you know where the girl athlete's lockers are?"

"Yeah." The man replied." Down the hall and go straight ahead; you can't miss it."

"Thanks." Ace said upon leaving for his sweetheart, bag of clothes, cash and other supplies in hand.

...

As Ace walked down the hallway, before stopping to go to the bathroom, he noticed several cardboard cut outs of his costume up. "Lying about all of this may be tougher than I thought." Ace said to himself. While his parents never really understood his ability (as far as he knew) or his stage name "The Deadman", the all to familiar bandana Ace would wear over his face seemed to resemble him all to well now after the many years he began to wear it out in public when his face began to...change, for fear of being shunned from society due to his "condition" from Willamette.

In addition were some of Candy and Chuck Green cutouts in their TIR outfits, as well as the legendary Frank West in some sort of wrestling outfit.

Before he could reach the women's locker room however, Ace began to hear a nervous man talking in another room with...wait...TK?

Curiosity got the best of him and he entered, overhearing a nervous young man he recognize from the CURE footage shot earlier today. He had light brown dreads with a green sweater covered with red and white buttons.

Ace couldn't make out what he was saying to TK, but there was definitely something suspicious going on here, and he intended to find out what.

Taking cover kneeling behind some boxes, he pulled out his small grey digital camera. Since his experience at Wilamette he had grown to admire Frank West and his photography skills. Going for a career in graphic design now in college, it just seemed natural for Ace to carry such a devise around invade opportunity happened to come knocking.

It was him taking photos of an event for CURE (before he was removed from the group) that helped him when he met his darling Candy to help break the ice.

TK walked with the man for a while, stopping at different points below Ace in this storage area to grab a suitcase overflowing with money!

and...A BOMB!? It was just another suitcase, but Ace could tell with the cell phone and wires attached that it was indeed some kind of explosive device.

"What the hell are you up to?" Ace muttered to himself.

After taking several decent photos, good enough to prove something... whatever "it" was (it couldn't be good), Ace slowly began to stand...

...as he felt his phone alarm vibrate, signaling that it would be time for Candice's meds soon. Thank goodness he had won tonight.

The jolt seemed to alert TK and his new hired help, as they seemed to look up ink the walkway by the rafters to see if what they heard was actually there.

They seemed to quickly dismiss it thankfully, as they walked out the door.

Ace slowly rose to his feet... only to discover three muscular men in black suits waiting on him from behind.

"Well well..." The first one began "what do we have here?"

"Uh...hey guys." Ace said nervously before coughing "I was just leaving... looking of the restroom. Just can't seem to find what I'm looking for..."

As Ace attempted to walk back the way the came, another man in a suit stopped him short. "Oh, I get the feeling we all found what we were looking for!"

Ace began to nervously hop in place, arms razed and (un-)ready for a fight.

The man to Ace's left reached to pick up a pipe from behind him, while the middle one began cracking his knuckles. The third one also wen to reach for something, but could not find it.

From behind, a sweeping motion met the man's face as he turned around just in time to meet it. He fell in a small pool of blood from his face. He was alive, but knocked out.

It was Candy! Candice quickly swung her newly acquired pipe as the other two men turned around towards their nearly incapacitated friend as again the pole met their gaze, up close and personal.

Candy swiped the pipe backwards an hit the man now behind her before comig down hard into the last guard's forehead, breaking the bloody pipe on impact.

Click!

Ace took one final picture, as he turned out to have been this whole time.

"Fancy seeing you here." Candy finally said, breaking the ice and looking down with her knees bent over the unconscious guards, giving her boyfriend a spectacular view of her cleavage.

"Yeah, I just happened to be in the neighborhood." Ace replied, puzzled as Candy took a glove to pick up the two new pipes for fingerprints and evidence in this awkward assault...although from the looks of things the guards seemed to be the victims here.

"Souvenir?" She asked all cutesy, making Ace blush red under his also equally red bandana.

He stood there admiring Candy's pink top and blue jeans, barely able to tell her arm was fake at all. It was even "sculpted" looking like the test of her fairly muscular body.

Ace walked over to her and they hugged. Before turning away from the crime scene, Ace took one final picture of the three battered guards as Candy admired her work, flexing her muscles a tad as she waved the lead pipe around.

As Ace turned away from Candice while opening the door, his face came ungodly close to another large pair of tits! In shock, he slowly looked up the gold dress to see whom they belonged to, but he already recognized the woman from her clothes.

He looked up and their eyes met...then Acr bent his head back down awkwardly...only to realize he was looking a her brests again and quickly froze in schlock before Amber's hand lifter up his chin to eye level.

Yes, it was Amber, one of the showgirls on Terror is Reality.

"I think you've overstated your welcome little boy!" Amber said playfully yet tauntingly. She scrunched Ace's cheeks with one hand as she turned to face his girlfriend. "Candice..."

"Amber..." Candy replied awkwardly. Try had known each other through the show for a little while, but had become more than acquaintances when Candy had first auditioned to be another showgirl. She got to keep the pink sparkling dress, but unfortunately that was all.

Candy gently took her embarrassed boyfriend's hand and motioned smiling with her head to move.

Ace obeyed like a sad puppy, his eyes only meeting Amber's once more to see her nodding her head towards the direction he was already going: the elevator.

The two arrived and Candice hit the up button. Ace was still very embraced about the whole thing.

"I'm sorry," he softly began "I didn't mean to look..."

"I know." Candice said compassionately. She smiles and closed her eyes, tilting her head playfully as Ace's eyes met hers. She really was so caring. Between the charities and the humanitarian work... why do such bad things have to happen to good people like Candice? It was a mystery that still puzzled Ace to this day.

Candice's favorite answer "cuz God led me to you!"

The elevator dinged and try slowly returned back to reality. They began to walk into the elevator when Amber's sister, the other hostess Crystal came walking out! She was right in front of them now, taunting Ace as her hips swayed.

"Looks like you just can't get the full package, can you Acey?" She began "Since your package is so small."

She slowly walked away as Ace and Candy boarded the elevator. Ace watched her walk away and raised his head slowly to meet the two imp's gazes...

"Well..." Ace began softly... "...see ya in hell ya stuck up bitches!"

The twins jaws dropped as get broke from their lesbienesque embrace of one behind the other.

Candice smiled brightly as she flipped them off!

The doors closed before any words could come out of the girls' mouths.

Ace and Candy burst into laughter in the elevator! They slowly faded I giggles and began to embrace. Their hug slowly began to turn passionate as slowly Candice looked into her lover's eyes, closing her own and pulling down Ace's bandana to give him a deep tender kiss.

Ace fell back into the corner f the elevator against a sign advertising Zombrex.

As their eyes opened and thee lips broke apart, Candice could tell Ace was worried for her... for them...

"Well get there." Se sais reassuringly, rubbing her hand through the back of his hair...

THUD!

...before the elevator came to a screeching and sudden stop!


End file.
